Softball team coping with shutdown

”I think really care about where we are currently in the world and what’s sitting in front of us. Our worlds have been slightly shocked as Griz softball, but our worlds have been shocked more as humans at this point.”

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The Griz had become the first team in the six years of program history to beat a ranked opponent by topping then-No. 23 Arkansas of the SEC and following up with another Power Five team against Michigan State of the Big Ten. They started 4-0, boasted the second-best record among all conference teams at 12-12 and nearly notched another Power Five win, losing to then-No. 18 Texas Tech in extra innings.
“We had some big wins, and we had some great games, and we had some things we were learning from along the lines and just felt like we were starting to catch some ground,” Meuchel said. “We hadn’t played at home yet in front of our fans. There were a lot of things we were hopeful for.”

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Meuchel is in favor of granting that year(an extra year for Sr’s) but pointed to issues that have to ironed out, namely roster sizes and finances of extra scholarships because high school seniors have already been signed. Other possible issues to consider are if seniors not on scholarship want to pay for another year of college to play their sport one more time or if they already have job prospects they don’t want to pass up.
“I’m all for it,” Meuchel said. “I would accept our four seniors back with open arms. I think that they are true Griz. I think that they’re great leaders and they’re skilled athletes. I would love to have them be a part of this program and finish their careers completely. But those are still some very open questions that the NCAA will have to completely come up with a solution.”

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A listing of recent stories details the heights that were reached and the lows that have been hit in what feels like a few blinks of the eye. It reveals how quickly and how drastically things have changed.
 
“Griz knock off ranked Razorbacks ... Montana knocks off another Power 5 opponent ... Achenbach named Big Sky Pitcher of the Week once again ... Big Sky Conference suspends spring sports ... Big Sky Conference cancels spring competitions and championships.”

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It hasn't been a linear progression through the five stages of grief. She's(Montana Junior Pitcher Tristan Achenbach) hit denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance, each in its own time and not necessarily in that order. None has been checked off and set aside.
 
"Some days it feels like I've accepted it, then some days I feel like I'm back at the beginning at denial and don't think it's real," she says. "It depends on the day, but I'm always grieving, just in different ways every day."

She is a fierce competitor, which she hides well behind her soft-spoken, easy-going demeanor, but it's not the games themselves she will miss most. It's what they represented, which was the chance to join her teammates in working toward a common goal.

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”Selfishly it's been hard to see the 2020 season come to an end, but life is more important than softball," says Griz coach Melanie Meuchel. "If the hardest thing for our team to go through right now is our season being cut short, then we're in a very good spot. The reality of the illness some people are facing, of people losing their jobs, is much bigger.”

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She(Coach Meuchel) wanted to lead her players through the most disruptive period of most of their lives. And she couldn't. She couldn't keep them in a protective huddle forever.
 
"I wasn't able to be at the forefront of it, but that's the world we're living in, which makes it hard with people you care so deeply about," she says.
 
"That's one of our foundations, of being able to talk to people face-to-face when you have important or tough information to share, to be able to do that as a group."

"The last thing I wanted was for them to learn about the end of the season through social media or even a text from me," she says.

"We started making phone calls and spent as much time with each individual as we needed to. For some it could be the end of their careers.”

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